Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Surprise? In Article on Disputed Burial, NYT Buries Palestinian Violence

...A video is available of that attack as well, at the end of which a Palestinian onlooker can be seen casually sipping a soft drink as Adele screamed and ran for help and for her life, her two small children left at the scene of the murder of husband and Lavi. But while The Times dedicates ink to video of Israeli civilians shouting "Shoot him" with regard to a fleeing Palestinian who just tried to murder a teenager, the paper of record ignores video of a Palestinian completely unmoved by the pleas of a woman to save the life of her small children and herself.

Tamar Sternthal..
CAMERA Media Analyses-Journalists..
06 October '15..

In the article today ("Dispute Over a Burial Reveals Palestinian Divisions") about internal Palestinian disagreement about the location of Fadi Alon's upcoming burial, The New York Times once again buries Palestinian violence.

In the second paragraph, reporters Diaa Hadid and Rami Nazzal identify Fadi Alon as "21, shot dead the day before by the Israeli police."

It is only in the fourteenth paragraph that Hadid, a former writer for Electronic Intifada, and Nazzal give readers a clue about why Israeli police shot Alon. They write:

Mr. Alon was fatally shot by police officers early Sunday after he stabbed and wounded a 15-year-old Jewish boy on a road outside the Old City, according to the police. A video clip showed Mr. Alon being shot, apparently as he was trying to flee, with Israeli civilians in pursuit and shouting "Shoot him!"

Thus, when Hadid and Nazzal finally do belatedly acknowledge Alon's violent attack, they cast it as an Israeli police claim. Alon stabbed his unnamed Israeli victim, "according to the police," but Alon was simply "shot dead," without any qualification. (For the record, the name of Alon's 15-year-old victim is Moshe Malka. His name does not appear once in any Times coverage.)

The Times again minimizes Palestinian violence in the following paragraph:

Mr. Alon was the second of four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since Thursday, when Palestinian gunmen killed a Jewish couple near a settlement in the occupied West Bank, leaving their young children orphans.

The article does not make clear that including the would-be murderer Fadi Alon, three and maybe four of the Palestinian fatalities were engaged in violence as they were killed. Among them are Muhannad Halabi, the 19-year-old terrorist who stabbed to death Aharon Banita, 22, and Nehemia Lavi, 41, and who injured Banita's wife Adele, and their two-year-old child as well.

(A video -- scroll to end of article here -- is available of that attack as well, at the end of which a Palestinian onlooker can be seen casually sipping a soft drink as Adele screamed and ran for help and for her life, her two small children left at the scene of the murder of husband and Lavi. But while The Times dedicates ink to video of Israeli civilians shouting "Shoot him" with regard to a fleeing Palestinian who just tried to murder a teenager, the paper of record ignores video of a Palestinian completely unmoved by the pleas of a woman to save the life of her small children and herself.)

The third Palestinian engaged in violence as he was killed was Huthayfa Soliman, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces near Tulkarem yesterday as he and others threw firebomb, firecrackers and rocks at them.

The circumstances concerning the fourth slain Palestinians, Abdul-Rahman Obeidallah, 15, are less clear. A separate article, also by Hadid, which appears today in the print edition of the international edition of The New York Times states:

It was not immediately clear whether one of the teenagers, identified by a medic as Abdul-Rahman Obeidallah, 15, was involved in the fighting in Bethlehem. . . .

According to Army Radio, the military reported that a riot broke out in Bethlehem and that Palestinians had thrown rocks at members of the Israel Defense Forces and the Border Patrol force, which responded by opening fire on one of the Palestinians. . . .

No Distinction Between Killers, Victims

This is not the first instance today in which The Times has covered up Palestinian violence by blurring Palestinian assailants with Israeli victims. Thus, in another article today ("Five Hamas Members Confess in Killing of west Bank Settlers, Israel Says"), bureau chief Jodi Rudoren, along with Hadid and Nazzal, report:

Four Israelis and four Palestinians have been killed in the last five days, the latest being Abdulrahman Obeidallah, 13, a resident of the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, where Palestinian youths threw rocks at an Israeli base Monday afternoon. Two witnesses said the boy was not involved in the rioting, but standing outside a community center where he frequently went after school. [CAMERA notes: This particular report omits the information from Army Radio about Obeidallah's involvement in violence.]

Again, readers of this account have no way of knowing that among the four slain Palestinians are the killer of Aharon Banita and Nehemia Lavi, the would-be murderer of Moshe Malka, and a Palestinian who reportedly was part of a group throwing fire bombs, firecrackers and rocks at Israeli forces.


Link: http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=6&x_article=3118

Founded in 1982, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America is a media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East. CAMERA fosters rigorous reporting, while educating news consumers about Middle East issues and the role of the media.

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